In 2001, Disney produced a film about the lost continent of
Atlantis. Starring Michael J. Fox, James Garner, Cree Summer, John Mahoney, Jim
Varney, Corey Burton, and Leonard Nimoy, Atlantis: The Lost Empire had a script treatment by Joss Whedon and Hellboy creator
Mike Mignola was the production designer. It did moderately well at the box
office, but not well enough causing the cancellation of a spinoff television
series and attraction at Disneyland.
Milo Thatch (Fox), a young linguist, has uncovered evidence
of the lost civilization of Atlantis. But when his peers reject his proposed
expedition, he’s offered a chance to prove himself by the billionaire Mr.
Whitmore (Mahoney).
A team led by Commander Rourke (Garner) sets out to find the
civilization and finds a dying society that has forgotten their written
language.
This is quite a fun adventure movie that boils down to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea meets Indiana Jones. And it does well in
providing massive action, reeling the viewer in, going bigger, reeling the
viewer in again and getting even bigger after that. Where Disney didn’t break The Emperor’s New Groove out of the
standard road trip comedy formula, they were able to take an adventure movie
spice it up with good humor and not focusing on a love story.
Yes, the romantic subplot is there, but it doesn’t
overshadow the main story and Milo and Kida never do more than hug. It’s also
not exactly love at first site. The two are initially interested because he’s
from the outside world and she’s about 8,000 years old and still looks like a
young woman.
The rest of the cast is great. Garner is able to pull off an
expedition commander with secrets well and everyone else has their own stories.
Vinny, the demolition’s expert, might be the best though. Don Novello ad-libbed
all his lines. Not one thing he says was in the original script.
The music is good too. It’s not a musical, but the
soundtrack provides great atmosphere.
It’s far from Disney’s best, but it’s up there.
#16
No comments:
Post a Comment